Betty Goldberg was born in Paris, France. After the Nazi occupation of Paris, her father was arrested and sent to a detention camp. There he befriended Monsier Nicourt, a local stationmaster.
Upon hearing that he was to be sent to Auschwitz, her father asked the stationmaster to hide his family. At the age of nine, Betty was hidden in the Nicourt home in Loury-Rebrechien, where she attended school under an assumed name (Berthe Noblet) with false papers. The stationmaster also found hiding places for six of her relatives. He was a liaison for the Resistance. After three years as hidden child, she was liberated in Paris and reunited with her family.